pray for your own dam rain

Anyone who has ever lived in Rexburg or who is closely associated with Rexburg knows that the best thing about living in Rexburg is the plentiful supply of dam jokes. I love them. It's like when the opportunity arises to read a scripture in Sunday School that has a "bad word," and everyone volunteers because it's an opportunity to say a "naughty word" in church.

I was thinking about how every year there's a "water shortage." We're always in a drought. But one of the very few things I learned in my three attempts at my geography class is that drought + rain = flooding. And then everyone complains because they have to travel to work in a life raft, they have to sleep in life jackets, their carpets are ruined, yada, yada, yada...whine, whine, whine.

I love rain. It's my favorite kind of weather. Don't get me wrong. But this whole, "Everyone needs to pray for rain" mentality...I'm not so sure about it. "Let's pray for rain, but then when it starts raining, quickly switch to praying for sun."

In The Other Side of Heaven, I am deeply moved by one of the lines that says, "We are praying for a south wind. Others may be praying for a north wind. Perhaps we should be praying for a good wind." And so, as we move into the drier months of the year, perhaps we should be praying for "good weather," not for sun or rain or (for the mentally unstable) snow.

If you want to pray for rain, pray for your own dam rain.